Northbound Alaska Cell Phone

[tomml]

I am traveling northbound on Diamond July 4. Is there a cell phone provider that has coverage in each port? I would like to purchase a pay as you go plan. Thanks for your assistance.

[operafan]

We used my T-Mobile pay as you go last week and it worked just fine. Piggybacks off of the AT&T network.

[FLACRUISER99]

Tracfone is great http://www.tracfone.com/

[satxdiver]

All most all of the ports other than Vancouver will be in the good ol' USA with the normal cell phone coverage. Actually our cell phones work quite nicely in Canada also. I don't see any problems. However always check with your carrier to make sure.

[Colo Cruiser]

We had AT&T in all the US ports, Rogers Wireless in Canada and when at sea MCP was provided through the ship for an additional charge. :)

[VibeGuy]

AT&T was great in all the ports, but MCP only worked when we were a certain distance from shore, and I never actually got it to work other than a couple of text messages in the middle of the night that came in, on a properly-provisioned-for-intl-roamer 3G iPhone. On the first sea day, I had nearly-continuous coverage from Rogers. Prepaid services from AT&T will *not* roam onto Rogers, for what it's worth.

[Colo Cruiser]

AT&T was great in all the ports, but MCP only worked when we were a certain distance from shore, and I never actually got it to work other than a couple of text messages in the middle of the night that came in, on a properly-provisioned-for-intl-roamer 3G iPhone. On the first sea day, I had nearly-continuous coverage from Rogers. Prepaid services from AT&T will *not* roam onto Rogers, for what it's worth.

 

MCP is satelite based and has nothing to do with the shore location. :)

[LarryL]

We just received our AT&T bill and the only roaming charge we had on last month's cruise was when we were in Vancouver. We placed calls from Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Anchorage.

[partsman_ba]

Verizon phones roam onto ACS in Alaska, so if Verizon prepaids allow free US roaming, that would work as well. Got great coverage. Not sure what they use in Canada, as I didn't want to spend the extra .69/min. on my postpaid plan (or the $2.49/min for the MCP coverage!). BTW, they apparantly turn off the MCP tower in Glacier Bay, since my phone lost its time lock.

[VibeGuy]

*cough* MCP can't be used in US territorial waters, as they're not licensed to use the frequency in the US. It most certainly *is* a function of distance from shore.

[operafan]

Verizon phones roam onto ACS in Alaska, so if Verizon prepaids allow free US roaming, that would work as well. Got great coverage. Not sure what they use in Canada, as I didn't want to spend the extra .69/min. on my postpaid plan (or the $2.49/min for the MCP coverage!). BTW, they apparantly turn off the MCP tower in Glacier Bay, since my phone lost its time lock.

 

Our T-Mobile prepaid worked in Victoria.

[SkiCruiser]

Be careful if you have Alltel and use your phone in Alaska. You will need to visit Alltel to add Alaska. My sister had a $300.00 surprise :eek: when she got home last year! Her phone worked great but what a unexpected surprise!! I have Verizon and had no issues with service and no roaming charges (Nationwide Family Share Plan).:D

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

*cough* MCP can't be used in US territorial waters, as they're not licensed to use the frequency in the US. It most certainly *is* a function of distance from shore.

 

This is true, they must be in International Waters to turn on the MCP system. Most of the Inland Passage is not in International Waters therefore you may never see the MCP system on. If you get a signal it is from one of the land base sites.

 

Alan

[satxdiver]

According to international agreements, the ship is allowed to turn on the ship's cell tower when they are a specified distance from land. Each country defines that distance. There are only four frequency bands used for cell phones in the world. USA/Canada uses two of them. Other parts of the world use the other two. Your nationwide coverage agreement does not include Canada since it is a sovereign nation and not part of the USA. Some plans only include the continental 48 states while others (e.g. AT&T) include all 50 states and its possessions (Guam, Puerto Rico, USVI, et al).